Service Area Business DELETED - Google+ Local Support Saga Proves My Points

OK so hopefully at least all the regulars here know all about the "do not support location" problems and deleted listings for service area businesses that did not properly hide their address.

I will say again HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS (in my estimation) of businesses were deleted, many were down for MONTHS and many are still down today and Google has not yet been able to revive them.

I will say again - this is nothing to screw around with!
If in doubt, be on the safe side and hide your (ass) address!

Here are 2 other things I've advised and the following real life example with the email chain from Google support proves these 2 points.

1) Even IF you occasionally do have clients come to your location, but this is a traditional service area business like plumber, carpet cleaner and ESPECIALLY if it's a home address. Do not even risk it, just because you have a client stop by once in a blue moon. HIDE ADDRESS!

2) I've told MANY SMBs this, but didn't really have hard evidence I was right, until seeing the post below. Many have asked, after months of being down, "should I just delete and start over?"

What I've always said is "Don't do it. I have never seen anyone successfully start over. Not even in the beginning of this debacle when Google was advising to start a new listing. It's like the location is flagged or blocked and new listings just won't go live, from what I've seen."

Check out the long and very frustrated post from a local search consultant who's been struggling with this problem for months. SEE THE COMPLETE SUPPORT EMAIL STRING BELOW. I bolded parts that relate to the key points above.

I have been an avid Google "fanboy" for many, many years. I have always encouraged family, friends, co-workers, and clients to embrace Google's products and philosophies, but my experience with helping a client with their Google Places / Google Local / Google+ has been one of the worst experiences I have ever encountered in my many years in information technology...

Then, one day, the listing just completely disappeared. The Google Places listing, which had been around for a long time was just gone. Upon investigation, I helped the client review their listing in Google Places, and found the infamous "this location is not supported" message. I assumed there was some kind of technical glitch and waited a couple of days.... no change. So, we opened a ticket with Google Support for the Places listing. That contact with Google Support has been one of the worst (without a doubt) experiences I have had (and continue to have) so far with any technology company. See, the original problem started in September (yes, SEPTEMBER), and it the listing is still gone. The reasoning given is a "technical glitch" that is preventing their "engineers" from restoring the listing. I mean, this is GOOGLE for crying out lout. How can a "technical glitch" last that long???? seriously?

Just so you can see how this progressed, here is the entire conversation over months and months with Google Support...

GOOGLE+ LOCAL SUPPORT EMAIL CHAIN BELOW

9/20/12
From Derek W. @ Google to Client

Hello,

Thanks for getting in touch with us. We understand your listing may not be
appearing on Google. We're currently working with our engineering team to
help us restore removed listings which meet our quality guidelines. Please
know that we'll follow up with you within a week to give you an update on
our progress.

We are a XXXXXXX service company, and so we typically make house calls
to customer's houses to provide service.
We make service calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Our location at XXXXXXXXX is our office headquarters.Customers do not typically visit us directly at our office (but we like
to make our address available in case any customers or vendors want to come
to our office).
Please let me know if you have any further questions to help us, or if
we need to change anything regarding our listing, please let me know.
Thank you.

Thanks for clarifying that. Please note that if you choose to display
your address on your local Google+ page, you must designate the store front
hours in which customers can drop in at your location for inquiries.
If you choose this option, you can update your description to include
your 24/7 services.

If you would like to keep your 12 am- 12 am hours, we will have to
hide your address.

Let me know how you would like to proceed. I look forward to hearing
from you. In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend!

I have updated the listing to show that our offices are open from 8am to
5pm M-F, and closed on Saturday and Sunday. I have ensured that our
description includes the fact that we provide 24/7 service.
Will this suffice to re-activate and un-hide our listing, or do we need
to make any further clarifications?

Thanks for updating your local Google+ page. We have identified the cause
of your XXXXXXXX company listing not showing and we have queued
your listing up for review.

We don't have a concrete timeline which we can give for this. We are
working with our Eng teams to establish a pathway to revive your listing.
Your submission helps us keep track of this problem and we will be
reviewing your listing.

I just wanted to follow up and see if you had heard anything back about
the Google+ Local (Places) listing problem we've been working together on.
It still says the listing is "Pending" or "Under Review".

Thanks for checking in on the status of your XXXXXXXXX company
listing. We are working with our Engineering teams to establish a
pathway to revive your listing. Your submission helps us keep track of this
problem and we will be reviewing your listing. I'll also be following
up with you once your listing is reviewed.

Do you think that if I delete this listing and start over completely I
would be able to have my business listed in Google Local Places again?
Or, do I need to completely remove my address and hide it? I just don't
seem to understand why this listing is not showing up anymore.

Thanks for following up. Creating a new listing wouldn't resolve the issue
as the new listing would be associated as the same business and the back
end issue would still prevent it from showing. Please hang tight as our
engineers work out this issue.

We hope to have your listing back on Google Maps soon. Thank you for your
patience.

It has now been over 6 weeks since our Google Maps/Places/Local listing was
disabled. Do you have any word on how long it actually takes the engineers
to return the listing? We like to think that our listing on Google for our
business is important to help customers, vendors, and others find our office.
Please help! Is there anyone I can talk to on the phone to plead my case?
It seems like an awful long time for this listing to be gone from Google.

Thanks for following up. The problem is that this technical issue has affected
your XXXXXXXX company listing as well as many other business listings and
we're currently working with our engineering team to help us restore removed
listings, which meet our quality guidelines. Unfortunately, I still can't give
a timeline for when this will be finalized, but I'm hoping it will be soon.

Thanks for your continued patience. I'll be following up with you once the
reinstatement is processed.

As you will see from the following thread, we have been trying to rectify a
problem with Google Local Places listing for several months now. As near as I
can tell, a relatively innocent error, that we corrected as soon as we were
informed of it, got us a relatively heavy handed punitive punishment of being
removed from Google Places. This punishment is still in effect.

We are a relatively new start up business, that is counting heavily on SEO and
Adword results to drive the growth necessary to make this venture viable. This
extended delay is threatening our very existence and has already cost jobs.
After all this time, all the feed back we get is that our engineers are working
on this.

I wonder if it might be possible for us to speak to some one, in a position of
authority in this matter, to help us determine what the future may bring for us?
We need some relief from this problem and appreciate any assistance in bringing
the attention of the correct people to the matter.

I have been doing more research and I believe I know what may be causing the issue.
My company shares its address with my brother's business. While we are both in
separate buildings on the property, we have always shared the mailing address.
I have been considering making my company's mailing address different by adding
a SUITE number to my business mailing address. Would this be the best thing to
do in the case of my Google business listing? Would this correct the issue that
we've been seeing? I could re-validate the new address (with the SUITE number)
using the PIN card. Would this help?

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think that this is what is causing the
listing to not work? We can definitely start using our SUITE Number for our
address to help distinguish my company's address from my brother's company address.
Please advise.

Updating your address by adding a street number shouldn't affect your listing's
status. Unless you update your official business address, we can update your
address within your listing, if not, it would be best to leave your listing as is.

Is there any possible way to just delete the listing and start completely over
again? This is just so frustrating. I have tried to edit the listing to not
show the address, and other minor details, but it just constantly says
"Pending Review".

Thanks for following up. Creating a new listing wouldn't resolve the issue as
the new listing would be associated as the same business and the back end issue
would still prevent it from showing. Please hang tight as our engineers work out
this issue.

Thank you for your continued patience. We appreciate it.

Kind Regards,

Sandy M.
The Google Local Team

So there you have it. Point your SAB clients to this thread when they insist they want to show their address.

Re: Service Area Business DELETED - Google+ Local Support Saga Proves My Points

Wow, saga is right, Linda! That's an incredible example of why complying with this rule is so critical. I still don't think I really like the rule...it's a stretch to prove it makes good sense, but what I think doesn't matter when it comes to this. It's what Google thinks that counts.

"Linda freely shares mountains of real world experience in her Advanced Places training. I have a lot of experience in Local search and she always surprises me with valuable, actionable tips and techniques." (Mark B Toronto)

"Linda goes above and beyond for her students, teaching the ins and outs of local SEO. Both of Linda's trainings were excellent and covered material I haven't seen taught anywhere else. Her services and willingness to help both in her classes and outside the classes, went above and beyond my expectations.